While trying to convince him that inside was the place to be, Besh calmly walked over to Isaac, turned back to the house and ran into the garage screaming.

Besh: “Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!”

Isaac, seeing his big brother do this crazy awesome game, did the same and ran after him.

Isaac: “Aaaahhhhh!”

As Isaac ran inside, I said, impressed,

Daddy: “Wow. Thanks, Besh!”

Besh shrugged.

Besh: “Works every time.”

Mommy: “Besh, do you know what ‘beshert’ means?”

Besh: “No, what?”

Mommy: “It’s Yiddish and it’s where we got your name. It means that when something is so special and so amazing that the only explanation is that it was meant to be. So when we first saw a picture of you in Mommy’s tummy, Daddy started calling you the Beshert Bean because you looked like a bean. And then we called you Besher after we thought and thought and thought. Because you were so special you were meant to be with us.”

Besh gets up out of his chair to go cuddle with Mommy. Then he looks up.

Besh: “And where did Isaac come from?”

Daddy: “Bah. Isaac’s a second child. We both liked the name.”

Mommy: “Daddy! Tell him where we got Isaac’s name!”

Daddy: “Besh, what letter does Isaac’s name start with?”

Besh: “I!”

Daddy: “That’s right! And that’s the same letter as Idel. Do you know who Idel was?”

Besh shakes his head.

Daddy: “That was Doccy’s real name.” (Doccy was Sara’s grandmother who passed away earlier this year)

Besh: “Oh, so it’s the same letter.”

Daddy: “Exactly.”

Besh: “Daddy! Do you know what else starts with I? iPhone!”

Mommy and Daddy laugh.

Besh: “Oh, and iPad too! So he was named after them too!”

“So we’re going to go pick up Besh now.”

“Besh?”

“Yeah.”

“Besh.”

“Yeah.”

“Besh. Yeah. Besh.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

“Besh. Besh. Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

Fortunately, this was the other 1 time.

Besh has had a great time at his new school, don’t get me wrong. But he is 5 and there’s bound to be things to work on. We’ve had our share of being over excited and listening less than necessary, but ultimately it’s been a good transition.

Still, when you hear those words all parents will do that slight intake of breathe. I did it just hearing second hand. But the rest rocked.

What Besh was doing, and still is doing, is conducting daily singing and dancing shows for some of the upper elementary school kids (a few years older than him). It’s a mix of songs from Les Mis, Bruno Mars, and Black Eyed Peas. And I imagine the lyrics are a good 60% accurate. But it’s pretty funny that he’s been doing it every day. He hides behind bushes, announces the show, then comes out while several kids watch him sing and dance. Appropriate that we find out this week as tonight he and Mommy and Nonni are at the So You Think You Can Dance tour. Hopefully he stays off the stage tonight.

Besh’s performing has apparently inspired some of the other kids to also sing or dance. I can only imagine.

Clearly he gets this from his mother.

One positive note was when I took Isaac with me to go pick up dinner. I was in serious need of caffeine so I hit the Starbucks drive-through on the way. Isaac has seen this drive-through a few times in his short life (I admit I’m hopelessly addicted) and recently we’ve even been able to order him the same drink as his big brother (kid’s milk with sugar-free vanilla syrup) if there are enough hands in the car to transfer the milk from the Starbucks plastic cup to his sippy cup.

On this ride, there were not enough hands (and he’d just had a drink) but that wasn’t going to stop him. As I pulled up to the ordering speaker and rolled down my window, I hear the following scream from the back seat.

“Hi! Milk! Isaac!”

So there ya go, not quite 22 months old and he’s already ordering at the Starbucks drive-through. Parent of the Year Committee, you have my number, I’m expecting your call.

True dat.

“Uh huh.”

“You know who’s getting rain today?”

“Who?”

“New York City. And Emerson.” (she’s in Boston) “And Miss Aimee.”

“You mean Nicaragua?”

“Huh?”

“Oh, I meant Connecticut.”

“Right. Same thing.”

Besher’s little brother, Isaac, has been known to perform the odd magic trick. Tonight’s trick was one for the blog.

For some months now I’ve been giving Boy Baths in the Mommy and Daddy bathtub. It’s big enough for them both and for me to sit on the side and reach them both. Isaac and Besh both love it to the point where Isaac will run into the bathroom, naked, when it’s time screaming “Baaf! Baaf!” He usually gets there before me so I turn on the water and he runs his hand under the faucet while I get the bath stuff ready.

Mommy and Besh were in the bathroom with Isaac while I grabbed a washcloth from Isaac’s room. As I walk back in we both hear Besh screaming. Isaac is at the edge of the tub, pointing inside and saying “Poop!” We look in the tub and, sure enough, there’s poop in the tub. Despite no kids being in the tub.

Turns out Isaac pooped, picked it up and put it in the tub. Besh witnessed this last bit and was screaming because he now believed Isaac would die from touching poop. Isaac, sensing all the commotion and wanting to soothe himself, started to put his thumb in his mouth. Mommy and I both screamed “Noooo!” and I dove to clutch his hand, then whisked him away to his room and changing table.

While Mommy cleaned the tub and I cleaned Isaac (he was clean, it was one of those poops apparently) and gave his hands an impromptu Silkwood shower, Mommy also reassured Besh that touching poop does not kill people or else there’d be no Mommies and Daddies. I plopped Isaac in the tub where he proceeded to wave his hands, say “Yuck!” and then run them under the water.

And we haven’t even started potty training. So episode 6 may be in pre-production for a while. A looong while, please.

“Thank you everyone for coming. And I’d like to especially thank my family. They stole my heart and I love them very much.

“I’d also like to thank my Daddy for showing me Star Wars even though I was too young to see it but I didn’t get scared. Thank you, Daddy.”

Totally works on kids.

Case in point. Tonight, Besh finished dinner early and went upstairs to use the bathroom. Nonni (grandma) was with us tonight and still finishing dinner when we heard from upstairs

“Noooooooooonnnnniiiiiiiii!”

I walked to the balcony so he could hear me.

“Besh, are you calling Nonni to wipe your body?” (he knows that’s not allowed)

Long pause.

“Noooo….”

“Why don’t you put on pajamas and come down?”

“But I want Nonni!”

“So put on your pajamas and come down!”

“I want Nonni!”

Seeing where this was going, I gamified.

“Okay, let’s see who sounds angriest. You go first.”

Pause.

“What?”

“I want to see who sounds angriest. You go first and say you want Nonni. But be ANGRY!”

“I want Nonni!”

“Angrier!”

“I want NONNI!”

“ANGRIER!”

“I WANT NONNI!”

But now he’s laughing.

“Okay, you win!”

“I win?”

“Yes!”

“What do I win?”

“Nonni!”

“I won Nonni?”

“Just put on your pajamas and come down to get your prize!”

“Okay!”

He put on his pajamas, occasionally yelling how he wanted Nonni but then laughing hysterically.

Gamification. Use it.